The Panther volleyball team gave everything they had against Renville County West on Tuesday but eventually fell 19-25, 21-25, 24-26 in a Camden Conference match.
“I feel like they had us a little bit at the beginning of the match, but when the girls got it in them to rally back in it, they stayed with it,” TMB coach Heather Kamrud-Rice said. “We lacked some consistency. We can really blast for a while, but we can really tank for a while.”
The Jaguars turned a 4-4 tie in the early goings of the first set into a 10-4 lead, and built the cushion to 17-10 and then 20-10 before an Allie Adams kill slowed their momentum. A Braelynn Kirk kill brought TMB to within seven points at 22-15, and that was followed by a block by Gretchen Lanoue and an RCW hitting error that made it 22-17. Another Adams kill after an RCW point made it a five-point match again at 23-18, but TMB couldn’t get any closer than that the rest of the set.
“I feel like tonight, we got a step closer to being more cohesive,” Kamrud-Rice said. “There have been many nights where we have three-fourths of the team cohesive, even 98% is cohesive, but sometimes all it takes is that one or two — if they’re in their head, if they’re not getting stops … you have one or two people out there making unforced errors. It sucks the air right out of your momentum.”
The Panthers and Jaguars started the second set by splitting the first eight points again, and RCW was able to grab a 12-9 lead before TMB took charge.
Two kills and a pair of aces by Kirk, and kills from Melaina Ankrum and Adams vaulted TMB to a 15-12 lead. The two teams battled to a 2020 tie before RCW scored five of the last six points to close things out.
Set 3 started with a 10-10 tie, and the teams were tied at 1818 before an ace by Kirk and a RCW hitting error put TMB ahead 20-18. It was 22-21 after an Ankrum kill, but a TMB hitting error and ace serve helped push the Jaguars to match point. Lanoue knocked down a kill and Adams served up an ace to tie things at 2424, but once again, the Jaguars were able to close it out and avoid a fourth set with two straight points.
“We’ve talked about a lot of things we’ve got to fix and about the ways we want to run our offense and defense, but it’s been that lack of consistency,” Kamrud-Rice said. “Maybe sometimes it’s a little bit of lack of discipline. When we catch glimpses of what we could be as a team — those are some smart girls out there, and some savvy plays are being made.”
Ankrum and Adams had nine and eight kills, respectively, and Kirk had six. Kirk also had 15 digs and two aces, as did Piper Freeburg. Alli Dolan led TMB in assists with 10.
The Panthers will host Canby today (Oct. 9) and play at Yellow Medicine East on Tuesday to end the regular season.
The Sub-Section play-in game will be held on Oct. 20, and quarterfinals will be on Oct. 24 at the home of the higher seed.
RCW 25 25 26 TMB 19 21 24 Kills: Ankrum 9, Adams 8, Kirk 6, Lanoue 2, Martinez 2, Dolan 2.
Service aces: Freeburg 2, Kirk 2, Adams. Digs: Freeburg 15, Kirk 15, Hoffman 8, Dolan 6, Knott 3, Martinez 3, Adams. Assists: Dolan 10, Ankrum 8, Freeburg 3, Kirk.
OCT. 6: LAKEVIEW 3, TMB 0 The Lakers handled the Panthers in straight sets on Monday, winning the Camden Conference match 25-22, 2519, 25-15 in Cottonwood.
Braelynn Kirk and Melaina Ankrum both knocked down eight kills, and Piper Freeburg had 16 digs and a team-high three aces. Kirk also had 16 digs.
Alli Dolan collected 10 assists, and Ankrum had eight. Bella Martinez and Kirk both added two aces.
TMB 22 19 15 Lakeview 25 25 25 Kills: Ankrum 8, Kirk 8, Adams 6, Knott 2. Aces: Freeburg 3, Martinez 2, Kirk 2, Dolan, Ankrum. Digs: Freeburg 16, Kirk 16, Rolling 6, Dolan 4, Adams, Knott. Assists: Dolan, Ankrum 8, Freeburg 4, Knott, Hoffman, Kirk.
CHEYENNE HOFFMAN showes off her defensive skills in digging up this ball in the third set against the Jaguars.
BRAELYNN KIRK directs a pass to the setter in the first set of Tuesday’s Camden Conference match.
ELISE KNOTT goes up for a kill against RCW on Tuesday.
PIPER FREEBURG sets up the Panther offense.
